AMENITIES
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
When the time comes for the Amenities Committee to
consider some
additional amenities, please add the following to your list:
A floating platform on the lake, anchored in deep water. The platform
could be used for swimming and sunbathing. It would have a ladder for
swimmers to climb aboard. A sliding board or diving board on the
platform would add to the fun. Cleats on one or more sides of the
platform would be used to tie kayaks, canoes, or other small boats used
to access the platform. The platform could serve as a destination point
for future flotilla-on-the-lake events.
A floating platform has been added to the list of future additional amenities. This was an item discussed by the Site Plan sub-committee and certainly has merit.
Any thought to building a fitness center / workout room as part of the clubhouse? Something with treadmills, exercise bikes, and weight machines in it. Big enough for 10-12 people with six to eight machines. I’m sure it would get a lot of use.
We had several discussions about a
fitness center in the Amenities Committee meetings as well as the clubhouse
sub-committee. There were several reasons we decided to go without.
The first issue was space. We
wanted to keep the square footage of the clubhouse within reason from a
maintenance standpoint. Our recommendations for the upper level of the building
design is for group activities/meetings and large enough to accommodate the
expected community population. Therefore, we suggested a small foyer and then a
large room with a connecting kitchen. The lower level was left for 2 permanent
offices, possibly the HOA and a Sales office, and then a couple of smaller
rooms for meetings/activities.
Another discussion was concerning
insurance liability for a fitness center and whether it needed to be staffed.
Hiring staff would of course increase running costs. We discussed volunteers
but were uncertain how many people would be willing to give their time.
Finally there has been
considerable discussion about the access time of the clubhouse. The committee
has recommended that the clubhouse be locked and when a member wished to use
the facility they would obtain the key. All members of the sub committee agreed
the building should be kept secured when vacant.
I hope this answers your comment
and I the other of the Clubhouse sub-committee will comment further if I have
missed anything.
Thanks for the feedback!
I would like for the Amenities committee to consider a tennis back-board. It could be placed at the end of one of the courts. I don't imagine the maintenance would be very much on it, and most likely the cost to build it would be minimal.
Good suggestion. This feature has been added to the tennis court recommendations.
Comment/Question – October 13, 2007
The boat ramps I've always used have been concrete. The drive to the launch could be gravel but for traction the ramp itself needs to be concrete. Also outside parking lot lights could be mercury vapor.
Good suggestions. We'll add them to the recommendations.
While reviewing the walking trail information on the web
site, I noticed that it does not make mention as being designed of use for
“...dogs.” “The trail is envisioned as
being designed of use for all members of the community: individuals, joggers,
couples, handicapped persons and parents with small children and their
associated toys. The trail is not for use by ANY type of motorized vehicle
regardless of power source.”
Response
Thanks for your comment. I guess it's hard to cover
everything, but the walking path can certainly be used to walk your dog. The
basic requirement in the Covenants relating to dogs, of course, applies:
"... All pets must be kept under control at all times, and must not become
a nuisance by barking or other acts. ..." Thanks very much for your
interest in the Amenities Committee's work. We appreciate your comments. Let me
know if you have further questions or comments.
Comment/Question - October 27, 2007
10-27-07 Please
Post on our (Mclendon Hills) official web site under comments and questions.
1. Will the HOA outright own the "clubhouse"
and "swimming pool"? If so, the HOA will be
responsible for the overall upkeep such as, county taxes, insurance, electric,
heat and A/C, etc. What will be the annual costs per household/landowner for
this upkeep?
2. Will the HOA members be charged a fee for the use of the
"clubhouse" and or "swimming pool"? Will this include a
fee for events sponsored by our Social Committee? If so, what will the cost be?
On 10-9-07 you suggested "we raise HOA fees starting 1/08". Based on
what figures? Shouldn't we have an approximate figure for what each amenitee will cost us before we arbitrarily start
raising our fees? Don't we have a coffer? Maybe we have enough w/o raising
our fees. However, we won't know until we get the costs for the overall upkeep
for each amenity. Lets not put the cart before the
horse.
Response
Thanks for your questions and comments. As with other questions
and comments we have received related to the Amenities Committee
activities, they will certainly be posted on the web site along with this
response. I'll address your questions as you have presented them.
1) Will the HOA outright own the "clubhouse"
and "swimming pool"? Yes. If so, the
HOA will be responsible for the overall upkeep such as, county taxes,
insurance, electric, heat and A/C, etc. Yes. The HOA will be responsible
for everything related to all amenities and common areas. What will be the annual costs per household/landowner for
this upkeep? These cost have yet to be
determined, but this is one of the issues the Amenities Committee, along with
the Finance Committee, is working on. Until we know what the design
specifics related to the clubhouse and swimming pool are (along with all the
other amenities), there is no way to know what the annual cost will be to
support and maintain these amenities. Other factors that will also need
to be considered are such things as how many HOA members we will have and when
we will have them, what the HOA fees will be each year, what are the
HOA maintenance costs (for such things as streets, the dam, common areas,
all amenities, etc.), what reserve is the HOA required to maintain, etc.
The bottom line is that we do not know at this point what the HOA annual costs
or income will be in the years to come. That is what the Finance
Committee is currently working on. As with any business plan or budget,
these figures need to be developed using the best information we have or can
get. Once we have estimates for HOA costs and income, the Finance
Committee can develop budgets and such things as "... costs per
household/landowner ..."
2) Will the HOA members be charged a fee for the use
of the "clubhouse" and or "swimming pool"? Will this include a fee for events sponsored by our Social
Committee? If so, what will the cost be? These are questions that
can only be answered by the HOA, and its duly elected officials, once the
HOA has been established. The HOA will make those decisions for the
community.
3) On 10-9-07 you suggested "we raise HOA fees
starting 1/08". Based on what figures? Shouldn't we have an
approximate figure for what each amenity will cost us before we
arbitrarily start raising our fees? Don't we have a coffer? Maybe we have
enough w/o raising our fees. However, we won't know until we get the costs for
the overall upkeep for each amenity. Let’s not put the cart before the horse. I made the
suggestion to raise HOA fees starting 1/08 at the 10/9/07 Transition Board
meeting after a discussion of expected costs vs. expected income of the
HOA. I should also point out that there was no disagreement with my
suggestion voiced at the meeting. The raising of HOA fees has been
discussed a great deal over the last year or so. My suggestion to raise
the HOA fees may seem "arbitrary" until one looks at the preliminary
figures for HOA costs and income. There seems to be a general
consensus that for the community to be able to support the amenities planned by
the developer, the fees will have to go up. In reality, the fees are
pretty low considering what we will need to maintain and the number of HOA
members we currently have or will have in the future. The preliminary
figures that I have been hearing indicate that the HOA will be hard pressed to
break even in the years to come, not even considering the cost of maintaining
the planned amenities. If we don't start raising the fees now,
we will very likely end up with the HOA having to levy an assessment on every
household/landowner. And that assessment could be in the thousands of dollars. The
bottom line here is that the community will have to support the HOA, including
all the amenities, street and dam maintenance, insurance, etc. If
our anticipated HOA income is not expected to be adequate to support the
community, then we need to do something about it sooner rather than
later. As for having a "coffer," the developer will be turning
over the HOA fees that have been collected up to the point that the HOA is
established. As the developer stated at the 8-21-07 Open Forum Meeting, this is projected to be about
$250,000. That seems like a lot of money - a quarter of a million dollars
- but that may be needed to satisfy the State's reserve requirements and to
have cash on hand to meet unexpected expenses. What I am really
suggesting is that we need to plan ahead. I really believe there is
plenty of justification for raising the fees, and there seems to be general
agreement on this. Although we don't have the costs for the overall
upkeep for each amenity at this point, I think we do know the HOA will need
more income in the years to come. And as the developer said at the Open
Forum: "As far as the dues structure goes we can expect the future dues to
rise as the cost of living rises, hopefully we can avoid
assessments."
I hope the above
addresses your questions and comments. If you have further questions or
comments, please let me know. The Amenities Committee certainly
appreciates hearing from you and receiving your views regarding the issues our
community is addressing. Thanks for your input.